Mitsubishi Type 99 Reconnaissance Plane

Koike has chosen deep green foliage for his "sea" in this fine rendition of a Ki-51, a.k.a. the Type 99 Recon or Assault Plane, a.k.a. the "Sonia" in Allied code name parlance. This could be Burma, perhaps, one of the major theaters in which the type saw action, where it was frequently used quite successfully in ground-attack missions from poor airfields. Unusual for a Japanese plane, the type was heavily armored to protect the crew from ground fire during low-level missions.